Video games have risen in popularity in America the past couple decades where popular gaming franchises influence or reflect modern American culture. Many video game franchises are popular but one franchise that has stood out in video game media is Assassin's Creed. Assassin's Creed is a franchise that consists of video games, spinoffs, comics, graphic novels, animated films, figurines, weapon replicas, clothing, and other merchandise. Only focusing on the video game branch of the franchise, the series began in 2007 with its first installment released. The franchise was planned out as a spin-off for the Prince of Persia series but developed into their own franchise. Currently there are seven main games in the franchise all of which have historical fiction, action-adventure, and stealth genres. The games feature dense narratives, historical buildings with the ability to climb freely on them, and the iconic hidden blade. Since the first game, roughly around 57 million copies of the franchise were sold world wide (“About Ubisoft”). Compared to other popular franchises such as Grant Theft Auto, that sold 150 million, and Halo, that sold 50 million, Assassin's Creed franchise has its fair share of popularity. Not focusing on only statistics, go to any video game convention and you would most likely see people dressed up as assassins or see merchandise of the franchise. So in video game culture now Assassin's Creed seems fairly popular. Considering how popular Assassin's Creed is in America, the game has aspects that reflect common ideas, morals, and traits that are present in American culture as well as other popular American media.
The most obvious trend Assassin's Creed has is the violent aspects in the game. Assassin’s Creed is ...
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... America, 10 Sep. 2009. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.
An article by Michael Shermer explaining a reason why Americans might believe in conspiracies.
I will use this source to describe the conspiracy trends in American media. It relates to the trend in Assassin's Creed with the concept of Assassins vs Templars and all the conspiracy theories in the historical parts of the game and partly in the modern aspect. This will help me come up with a theory on why people might like this trend and synthesize what it says about our culture.
“Top 100 Most Popular Games.” G4TV. NBCUniversal. 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.
A brief list of the top hundred popular games that sold in 2012.
This the list is valid because other sources, such as GameRadar and IGN, have similar lists with the same games.
I am simply using this source to point out the amount of violent games that are popular.
Conspiracy theories are entertaining for many to speculate and demand a great deal of thought to constitute. A conspiracy theory is defined as the idea that many important political, economic, and social trends are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public (“The Definition of Conspiracy Theory”). Many conspiracy theories are thought up around children’s shows, which offers a feeling of nostalgia and pleasure. A few children’s show conspiracies that need a deeper light shone on them are from Max & Ruby (2002-2013), Winnie the Pooh (1977), Rugrats (1990-2004), and All Grown Up (2003-2008).
The day that President Kennedy was assassinated, people started to view the world differently. His death was the first time that a conspiracy theory transformed into a conceivable form of knowledge among the general public. "It was because of Kennedy's death in Dallas that the conspiracy theory was born" (Wensley). It started with an article written ...
Imagine for a moment, a world of death. For 200 years your family has been sealed away with a thousand other people, to protect you from the dangers outside. Now your father has disappeared, and it’s up to you to find him. After a harrowing escape from your subterranean home, you walk through a tunnel to the outside world, past dead bodies, stretched out in front of the door, as if to say “don’t leave us out here to die!” As you walk through the gate to the outside, and as your eyes slowly adjust to the sun you have never seen, a wasteland emerges before you. The world is devastated, destroyed and annihilated. Broken twisted hunks of metal lie next to a sign on the side of the mountain saying “scenic overlook” on your right, the broken remains of the interstate bridge stand as a monument to a destroyed culture. Petrified trees are all that remains of the local fauna. Off in the distance, all that remains is destruction. While you may think of this stunning visualization of a wonderful novel, this is actually one of the opening scenes from Todd Howard and Bethesda Game Studios’ “Fallout 3.”
In researching this and many other conspiracy theories, one can see many uses of sensationalism, mainly by the media. This media- the news (local and national), magazines, tabloids, television shows, movies, and so on- has a huge e...
Also, console manufacturers will usually not allow a game to be produced if it is unrated, or if it refuses to be rated. The ESRB rating system is a system that rates games based on how ‘adult themed’ they are.... ... middle of paper ... ... People who are psychotic, and usually who do not play video games, are more dangerous than those people that do play video games, and live in a safe and happy household.
In 1998, the US software industry sold $6.3 billion worth of video games (see Unknown). Not bad for an industry that didn't exist 25 years ago! Yet despite its continued growth, all is not well in the video game industry. School shootings in Littleton, Colorado; Pearl, Mississippi; Paducah, Kentucky; Conyers, Georgia and many other towns have shocked the nation (see Malcolm). Understandably, grieving parents and sympathetic citizens are searching for a cause for this "outbreak" of youth violence. It is natural to assume, "when children, the symbol of innocence, commit the severest of crimes, then something must be going wrong with society." (see Maker)
... Grand Theft Auto since my early teens, and games like the original Doom and Duke Nukem back when I was real small, and don?t consider myself influenced by them. I look at games as more of a way to pass time and have fun with what they offer. I think that having people kill simulated people with a controller is far better than having them out on the streets aiming a gun at bystanders. If people do not have the logic to comprehend the right or wrong of situations in games, then I think it says more about the quality of person, not the content of the game.
When computer games first came out they weren’t all like “Pong”, one of the first game to appear. Most of the original games had violent intention, like “Invaders” where you weren’t welcoming the aliens with open arms. Another games that I consider somewhat violent and was also a big favorite, “Pac-man.” The fact that Pac-man went around eating ghosts and any thing else on the screen shows violence at some level. The whole idea that new games are more violent than old is absurd.
“Contrary to the claims that violent video games are linked to aggressive assaults and homicides, no evidence was found to suggest that this medium was a major (or minor) contributing cause of violence in the United States.” (Markey, 290)
Since the beginning of settled civilizations, people have had more mutual sharings than ever before. By the same token, there have been some conspiracy theories that are usually against the culturally accepted beliefs of religions, science and society. A conspiracy theory can be described so differently. However, as in his text, Marshall Brain explicates, a conspiracy is generally defined as a theory seeking to explain a disputed case or matter as a plot by a secret group or alliance rather than an individual or isolated act (Brain). Especially, after the new media has become quite popular, more and more conspiracies are theorized every single day, which aim to catch society’s attention via such media tools as the internet, journals and newspapers. Thus, people who theorize those conspiracies tend to use such objects as spiritual and mysterious ones in order to interest people. To illustrate, many examples can be given. For instance, many people have claimed that they were abducted by aliens, although they could show no evidences. Here, a citation from Blackmore could facilitate to understand the circumstance better. She states that people occasionally claim that they have been abducted from public places by aliens, in this case that may provide them with witnesses and affirmations but no evidence could be shown so far (Blackmore). As it is well known, only a small number of people believe such alien abductions, however, rating of this kind of news is quite high on media, because humankind has been wondering if there are extraterrestrial creatures out of the earth. Another example can be conspiracy theories which are about the origins of religions such as the rejection of Jesus Christ. There are some people who pay attention to...
As a character you are controlling walks through the bank, cops begin to swarm around you, and you are forced to kill them or be killed by them. After you kill the cops you rob a bank and gain around 2 million dollars. That is one of the very first missions in the popular game Grand Theft Auto 5. Grand Theft Auto 5 broke several records the first day it came out. Some of these records include best selling video game in 24 hours, fastest video game to gross $1 billion and it had the most viewed trailer for an action-adventure video game (Lynch). Grand Theft Auto 5 is a very violent video game, as well as very profane in the language and gestures used. I can personally vouch for the violence of this game as I bought this game the day it was released. However, Do games like Grand Theft Auto have negative effects on teenagers? Many people relate violent video games to aggressive behavior in
Games such as Grand Theft Auto are often suggested as a cause for aggressive or risky
One article points out that video games have a big impact on children’s lives and that many of the games played are violent. Researchers have found that “nearly all children spend time playing video games” and studies have found that “8th graders spent an average of 17 hours per week playing video games” (Tamborini 336). Moreover, 68% of the most popular video games contain violence (Tamborini 336). So it is clear that many children have access to violent video games and they have a big impact on their lives simply because of the amount of time spent playing them.
Some people believe that violent video games can cause behavioral problems. This is not true; it is only their opinion. They may say people that play violent video games start having behavioral problems, and what was that cause? It is only people and it has no effect on them, only their own action and their weak mental health issues. The violent video games for computers and consoles’ sale rate went up but violent crime offense went down. Video games are for players to have fun without causing any harm while they are playing. Why do they believe that behavior problems were caused by violent video games? They do not seem to realize that television and movies also have violent scenes. Some examples of popular violent movies include First Blood, Expendables, Dark Knight, Spiderman, and Superman. All action movies have shooting, explosions, and fighting. Horror movies are filled with violence as well, such as Halloween, Scream, and Saw. Horror shows and movie are showing stabbings and serious harm. Even Television shows, like the Three Stooges, Cops, wrestling and America's Funniest Videos! Children's cartoons have violence as well; Disney animated films, Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Watership Down.
“90% of pediatricians and 67% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior among children” ("Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence?”). Pediatrics and parents are aware that kids that play violent video games see a change in their behavior. Many cases they see the kids with anger problems and causing them to do violent acts. Violent video games have been around for many years where some older titles, such as ‘Mortal Kombat’ and 'Grand Theft Auto’ both are some of the most controversial ones. The video game industry has been growing and with the large amounts of violent video games being produced. “Total US sales of video game hardware and software increased 204% from 1994 to